As Kirklees Council continues the mammoth task of overhauling the Local Plan, residents are being asked to take part in some important research.
The Local Plan came into force in 2019 and sets out how much development the council wants to achieve across Kirklees, and where it should take place. It features some controversial schemes like the 4,000 home Dewsbury Riverside scheme and 1,500 home development at Chidswell.
However, the plan was recently found unfit for purpose, with a number of issues highlighted including the absence of a five year land supply, the council’s failure to meet its housing targets and difficulties in achieving sufficient jobs. As a result, a full update is underway and set to be complete by March 2027.
To inform this, the council wants to determine the state of Kirklees’ housing market and will be taking into account a number of factors like the cost of renting and buying, affordability and the patterns of people looking to move, as well as the current housing available across Kirklees.
The local authority has commissioned a survey and is encouraging residents from across the borough to take part – a link to this is at the bottom of this article.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance & Regeneration, said: “This research is a vital part of planning our development for the future of Kirklees.
“When we first launched our Local Plan back in 2019, we couldn’t have imagined how much the landscape was about to change for everyone – which is why Cabinet approved a full update to the Local Plan late last year.
“To make this update meaningful and be working to deliver the best outcomes we possibly can for Kirklees, we need to have a thorough understanding of the current housing market and, crucially, what’s missing. I’d urge as many people as possible to take part, because this is bigger than any one development – it’s how we plan for the bigger picture for Kirklees and its future.”
A link to the survey is as follows: https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/41751781/7c5f/
